Thursday, June 30, 2016

A Roar For The Beyond

The man-eater menace is new to Gir—a sign that some lions must be relocated

On The Road

Lions are a common sight on the roads near Gir

Lions turning man-eaters is not exactly your exclusive breaking
news story. It’s the law of the jungle, after all, and operates in Gir
as much as in other places. But other factors contribute equally, and in
the Gir forests of Gujarat, home to the Asiatic lion, experts say, one
of them is the refusal of Gujarat—home state of the prime minister—to
relocate some of the lions to other national parks.
The lions in Gir are the only surviving population of the Asiatic
lion. Over the years, this population has grown to 543. But there is a
problem. At 1,412 sq km, the Gir National Park (GNP), which is their
protected habitat, is too small for this population and supports too
small a prey base for the predators. Experts residing in the area
estimate that nearly half the lions in Gir now live outside the
protected area, coming into conflict with human habitations or
itinerants such as pilgrims to the temples in the forested region or
passing traffic. Sighting a pride of lions crossing a highway or walking
along a road not far from a village or town in the evening is no longer
unusual. On hot days, lions are also seen resting near the shaded
nesses (or maldhari hamlets). For long, there were hardly any cases of
maneating reported.
But now, the local community is alarmed. In just three years, 162
attacks on humans have been reported around Gir. In March this year,
Zeena Makwana, a 51-year-old farm labourer who was asleep in a field in
Ambardi village in the Dhari tal­uka of Amreli district, was dragged
away by lions in the middle of the night. Those who were with him in the
field that night later found one of his limbs lying a little away from
the field. In April, three lions attacked a family, killing a woman. And
in June, lions attacked and killed a youth.
A certain degree of man-animal conflict has been accepted for ages by
the maldharis, or cattle-rearers, who live in the Gir. The staple diet
of lions here has been cows and buffaloes belonging to the maldhari
groups. They’ve had no quarrel with this either, and consider the lions a
divine presence. But after the spate of zattacks, the people of Amreli,
near which the incident took place, are dem­anding that the forest
department initiate action against maneating lions.

The problem of plenty has made the rel­ocation of lions necessary—and
urgent. But as chief minister of Gujarat for many years, Modi opposed
and scuttled any move to relocate the lions, linking them to Gujarati
pride. Indeed, the lion is also the symbol of his pet ‘Make in India’
project. Last year, Gujarat lost an eight-year legal battle to shift
lions to the Kuno wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. In fact, a
proposal to move the lions to Kuno is ten years old, and it’s been as
many years since 24 villages of the Sahariya tribespeople were relocated
to create a habitat for lions. The BJP government of Madhya Pradesh had
sent a proposal to the Union environment and forests ministry seeking
Rs 79 crore in budgetary allocation to shift lions from Gir to Kuno. But
it has been ignored.
The effects might soon begin to be felt in places like Aankol Vadi, a
hilltop ness housing the extended family of Kanhabhai Appabhai Gadhvi,
undisputed leader of the maldharis, along with the livestock they rear,
inside the core area of the GNP. Though the area is supposed to be
legally free of human presence, there are 54 such nesses. The family has
lived here for generations in low, mud-walled huts and keeps some 200
buffaloes. Gadhvi’s son Vijay says they lose livestock worth Rs 3-4 lakh
yearly and for generations they have taken it for granted, thinking of
it as making an offering to the gods, with the lions symbolising
vitality and res­ilience. He says predators and humans have for long
lived in perfect harmony, and his family has even given names to some of
the lions living in the vicinity of the ness. “Lions need our presence.
They are dependent on us (maldharis),” says Vijay. “We ens­ure there is
easy food available for these lazy predators.” But some maldharis are
now getting worried that the lion population is increasing and with the
forest shrinking, there might be problems.
Kaushik Banerjee, a lion expert and fellow with the Wildlife
Institute of India, Dehradun, who has carried out extensive field work
for eight years in the Gir forests, believes the cosy relationship Vijay
speaks of is bound to end— sooner if not later. “If the ecology of the
forest is to be conserved, the maldharis living inside the core area
will have to be moved out,” he says. He’s also in favour of relocating
some of the lions in order to expand the genetic pool. It’s an idea the
maldharis might appreciate, given their emp­irical understanding, as
cattle-breeders, of hybrid vigour and enfeeblement through inbreeding.
While conservationists are worried, they don’t want to come out in
open disagreement with the government opposition to relocation. Valmik
Thapar, environmentalist and author, describes them as the ‘khichdi
lion’—a mix of North American and so-called Asiatic lion. The Indian
lion was known for its tameness, docility and inability to behave as a
predator in the wild, he says. Now that they are starting to attack the
humans they have interacted with for so long, a tipping point could have
been reached.

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"If ever you feel like an animal among men, be a LION" -Criss Jami, American Musician and Poet. "Lion: The fiercest and most magnanimous of the four footed beasts" - Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language (1755)

Asiatic Lion Protection Society

Asiatic Lion Protection Society (ALPS) founded in year 2006, is an NGO working mainly for conservation of Asiatic Lion in Gir forest and in Indian Zoos. Main objectives: To compile max. information about Asiatic Lion plus Gir forest and spread it through out the globe by website, blogs, Wikipedia, yahoo groups etc To help protection & conservation of Asiatic Lion & Gir forest by taking up projects like - Building parapets on open wells. - To contact and request nationalize banks of Gir area to put a condition to built parapet on open wells while sanctioning loan to farmers - At the time of festivals, organize camps near temples like Kankai, Banej & Tulsi Shyam to educate tourist to protect wildlife. - To distribute information and awareness leaflets at check-post to visitors using jungle roads. - Make representation & persuade Govt. to make Gir 'A Plastic Free Zone. Similarly contact local civil bodies to make their areas A Plastic free zone. To inform authorities about illegal activities inside the jungle like wood-cutting, removal of forest produce, poaching, illegal grazing etc. To inform authorities about injured wild animals. Also educate locals of Gir forests as well as school/college students to conserve Gir forest, it's wildlife and to represent to Govt. in favor of trans-location of Asiatic Lion to some other good place in Gujarat. P S: We welcome your comments & posts and expect that our conversation will follow the general rules of respectful civil discourse. You’re fully responsible for everything that you submit here in your comments & posts.

Discover Gir forest with us...

If you wish to travel Gir forest... we will be happy to help, guide and accompany you to explore Gir forest for the best experience. Please contact us for the same.

Gir forest...Gir lies has a topography made up of succession of rugged ridges, isolated hills, plateaus and valleys. Besides, being the last abode of Asiatic lions, Gir forms a unique habitat for ratel, rusty spotted cat, pangolin, ruddy mongoose, civets, paradise flycatcher etc.The overwhelming presence of the omnipotent big cat diverts the attention of the common man from the remarkable bird population that the sanctuary has. However, the birds of Gir sanctuary did attract the great ornithologist, Dr. Salim Ali who believed that, had the Asiatic lions not been there, the area would have been one of the most fascinating bird sanctuaries of the country.People mostly link Gir with "Maldharis" who have survived through the ages by having symbiotic relationship with the lion. They are religious pastoral communities living in Gir. Their settlements are called "nesses".At present, Gir forests of Gujarat (India) is the only natural place where this race of lions i.e. Asiatic lion is found.